


The Asset and The Aquarium

by Introvertatheart



Series: The Asset's New Life [22]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Daddy Bucky day, M/M, The Aquarium
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:29:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21626851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Introvertatheart/pseuds/Introvertatheart
Summary: It's daddy and Bucky day. What better way to spend the day at the aquarium.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: The Asset's New Life [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1343575
Comments: 6
Kudos: 49





	The Asset and The Aquarium

**Author's Note:**

> I based this off the Georgia Aquarium (hometown) since I have not been to any other aquarium. Not every animal is mentioned.

The saying that the days after Thanksgiving is for digesting and relaxing is absolutely true. Steve felt like he gained 10 pounds overnight. Not that it really affected him, he just felt different. But it was worth it. Steve looked over at Bucky and saw he was waking up.

Today could have been their relaxing day, but yesterday there was a fire below him and needed to be repaired. So they had to find something to do.

Then he remembered, daddy and Bucky day. That could work, he just needed to figure out what to do. Bucky's been to the park before and there wasn't much to do. He got his phone and searched. Then he saw the aquarium had a sale on tickets today.

That sounds fun. There was a lot to see at the aquarium, maybe too much for Bucky. But he won't know if it is too much for him unless he tried. 

"Daddy."

"Good morning, Bucky. Did you sleep good?" Bucky nodded and rubbed his eyes. He sighed and laid on Steve's chest. Steve smiled and stroked his hair.

"As much as I want today to be cuddle day, we have somewhere fun to go." Bucky opened his eyes and looked at him.

"Today is daddy and Bucky day. And I have a special place where we can go."

"Go?"

"It's a surprise. Now let's go get ready." Bucky smiled and put his blanket over Steve's face.

"Are you being silly?"

"Daddy, silly."

"You're silly, you goofball. Come on we have to hurry before the landlord knocks on the door." Steve got up and stretched. Bucky mimicked him and heard a yawning whine from Harley.

"Good morning, Harley." Said Steve. He brought Bucky in the bathroom and started the bath. Steve stepped out to get his and Bucky's clothes. When he came back, Bucky was staring at the bubbles in the water. 

"You alright?" Bucky nodded. Steve undressed him and put him in the tub. As Steve was washing Bucky's hair, he started to feel little bumps and scratches on his head. Bucky wasn't reacting when he scratched them and it was proving that these were the result of him hitting himself.

"You have to stop hitting your head, baby. Your head doesn't like that."

"Owie?"

"Yeah, I know it hurts. So we may have to figure out a way to redirect that." When he finished, he got Bucky out and dried him off. Bucky shook his hair, as usual. After Steve took care of Bucky, he took care of himself and gave himself a little shave. He never realized that he really started to look like a dad now. He had a whole five o'clock shadow going on, maybe he would let it grow out. Or maybe Bucky would find it weird and try to pull on it. Maybe just a low cut for now. He went in the living room with Bucky and fixed his breakfast.

Steve fixed oatmeal and toast for himself. And oatmeal and eggs for Bucky. As they ate, Steve noticed Bucky was eating fast, like the food was going to disappear if he didn't eat it all.

"Hey bud, slow down." Bucky belched and lifted his spoon again. Steve took his bowl away, Bucky whined.

"Please?"

"Slow down. The food isn't going to disappear." Bucky belched again, some of the oatmeal came up too.

"That is why we take our time eating." Steve wiped his mouth. Steve slid the bowl back to him. Bucky got a spoonful then waited a second to swallow then went for another. Steve put his hand of the bowl so he could swallow properly.

"Why are you eating so fast?" Bucky stared at him then the bowl. He only had a two spoonfuls left, so Steve let him have it. Bucky was usually a fast eater but he knew when to stop himself. Now he had to think of way to slow him down. Once breakfast was done, Bucky was taking his nap when there was knock. It was his landlord.

"Hey, they're about to start cutting downstairs." 

"Oh, I just put him down for a nap."

"Sorry, I can tell them to wait an hour."

"No, he'll sleep in the car. Just give me five minutes." Steve was hoping they would have came a little later in the day. But people had a job to do and they weren't going to stop for a napping two year old. Steve packed his bag and put on Harley's harness. He went in the bedroom, Bucky was deep in his nap. But if he heard sawing below him, he wasn't going to be happy.

Steve picked him up along with Lamby and Star and brought them to the car. 

The aquarium was an hour away, so by the time they arrived he should be awake.

But of course, traffic caused them delay.

Once he found a parking spot, Bucky was beginning to wake up a little. Then his phone rang.

"Yes Nat?"

"What are you doing?"

"Having a daddy and Bucky day at the aquarium, just waiting for him to wake up."

"Sounds fun. Are you doing a private tour?"

"No, I think we'll be okay."

"Okay, make sure you get a senior citizen ticket."

"Not funny."

"Or a senior and a child ticket."

"Bye Nat."

"Send pictures." He hung up. She always had jokes but he did smile. 

"Daddy, where?" Said Bucky.

"This is where we are going to have our day. This is called an aquarium and it has a lot of fish and other animals. Sound fun?" Bucky nodded.

"Okay, but listen if you get overwhelmed and need a break just tap me okay?" Bucky nodded again. Steve unbuckled him and they went to counter.

"Welcome to the Brooklyn Aquarium. How many are touring today?" Said an elderly lady.

"Two plus a service dog."

"Okay, and what is the dog used for?"

"Seizures and emotional distress." 

"Alright, and your ages?" 

"Um?" Does he tell her that they are over 100 years old or that they were biologically under 30?

"Oh my, I didn't even notice. You're him. Your Captain-."

"Sshh, please. We want to go unnoticed. How much for the tickets?"

"Oh don't even worry. Would you like a private tour?" Why not?

"Sure." The lady picked up the phone and called for someone. They waited a few minutes then a middle age lady came.

"Good morning, I am Elizabeth. I'll be your tour guide."

"Great, I'm Steve, this is Bucky and that's Harley."

"Okay, and is there anything I should know before we start?"

"He might get overwhelmed so he'll stop and sit down. But I'm hoping today is a good day and he doesn't have a seizure." Steve was really hoping that Bucky wouldn't seize today, if he did he just hoped he didn't have to face the soldier.

"Alright, let's start." When they entered, there was soft warm lights and little signs here and there. Then they got to the main area. Too many people, too many noises. Bucky started to whine a bit.

"Any less crowded places?" Asked Steve noticing his distress.

"Right this way." They went towards the cold water exhibit. There wasn't a lot of people, thank goodness. Bucky looked at all the animals, so many animals.

"That?" He pointed to the otter.

"That is our southern sea otters. They live in the Northern Pacific Ocean. They eat fish, sea urchins, squids and anything they can get their mouth on. Do you see their feet?" They nodded. "That means they are really good swimmers. They can dive deep to get their food and swim really fast to get away from predators." They admired the otters for a while until something else caught Bucky's attention. He pulled on Steve a little. They went where he wanted to go and saw whales.

"Daddy, that?"

"I don't know. They are really pretty though." 

"These are beluga whales. They live in waters of the Arctic. So they swim in really, really cold water. They eat different types of fish. And they are on the smaller species of whale in the world."

"Are they only white in color?" Asked Steve.

"Yes. And they can dive more than 3,000 ft." Steve was intrigued, Bucky didn't understand what that meant. Then a whale swam down to the glass.

"Touch?"

"Gentle." The glass was probably very thick, but still he needed to learn how to be gentle. Bucky poked the glass with his flesh finger. The whale just swam around, Bucky smiled then started to laugh. Steve took the opportunity to take a picture of him.

"Silly." 

"Yeah they are, let's go find some place warmer." Bucky waved bye to the whales. They moved to the tropical area. There was a lot of different fish and eels to which Steve found a little creepy. Then they met the seahorses.

"Look, Buck, these are seahorses."

"Doggy?"

"Seahorsies, bud."

"Doggy." Why was Bucky calling horses doggies? Steve has yet to figure that part out.

"Let's go met our reptiles and amphibians." They walked to the exhibit. Bucky was starting to slow down when he saw how many people were around one area.

"Those kids are around our touch pool. They can touch the sea stars and sea anemones. Do you want to go touch?" Steve looked at Bucky, he was still unfocused. He tapped Steve's shoulder and whined.

"Okay, we can take a break." Bucky sat on the ground with Harley and chewed on his necklace. 

"Is he age-regressed?"

"Yeah, you know about it?"

"My stepbrother got into a bad accident and he wasn't the same after that. Months into his recovery, we would see that he didn't know how to use the bathroom and he would only watch Go Deigo Go. He would only request milk and wanted a bed time story. We took him to neurologist and they found out he had regressed to being five."

"Wow. How long ago was this?"

"Two years. My parents divorced shortly after I graduated college, which was last year. So my mom has been pulling in extra time to take care of him. And I was able to snag a job here while my stepbrother has therapy during the day."

"He's had a lot of brain trauma and he's two now. I love taking care of him, even if he decides to scream every day."

"Like taking care of a child you'll never have?" Said Elizabeth.

"Yeah." Steve didn't even think about having an actual child. Bucky was enough for him. But to actually have a child by him? Was that even possible? 

"Daddy?"

"Yes, are you okay now?" Bucky nodded and stood up. He didn't want to go in the touch area, too many people still. 

"Hungry."

"Okay, let's go find a place to eat." Elizabeth directed them back to the main area and to the dining area.

The whole menu was full of solids. The only thing Bucky could possibly try is the tenders but even then, they could still be dry and he would choke.

"You can't have any of this, you'll choke too much." They sat down at a table. Steve was lucky he packed a snack for him. He gave a cup of blueberries, apples and carrots.

Elizabeth became a little concerned when she saw that Bucky wasn't chewing. Just one bite and swallow and an occasional choke.

"I know it looks scary, but he's fine." Said Steve seeing her concern.

"Why doesn't he chew?"

"He just won't. He'll chew on his necklace but not food. But he's okay." Bucky finished his snack and drank his milk. Steve knew why Bucky wouldn't chew food, Rumlow told him the story. And he wasn't going to say anything about Bucky's sexual traumas to anyone.

"Alright, you ready pal?" Bucky nodded.

"Are you ready to see our biggest tank?" They both nodded. Elizabeth led them to the big tank called the ocean view. They were both in awe by the tank.

The tank was humongous. And their was so many animals. Bucky sat inches from the glass. Steve could see a lot question marks floating around his head as each animal passed. Then something huge passed overhead.

"That?"

"That is a whale shark. They are largest fish in the sea, but they are not the largest animal in the sea if that make sense." Said Elizabeth.

"There's something bigger than that?" Said Steve.

"Yes, called the blue whale. The blue whale is a mammal, meaning that mothers can produce live young instead of eggs like the whale shark would. We, or any aquarium in the world cannot house a blue whale because of its size. So we let the ocean keep them."

"Wow, they are beautiful. Do you like them?" Bucky was completely into the aquarium. All the fish moving in groups and the winged fish the lady called manta rays and sting rays.

Steve took a few pictures of him and watched the fish. They were there for a while until Steve felt Bucky yawn more. It was past 5 and it was an hour ride home. They needed to head home. 

"Alright, we'll stop by the gift shop then we'll head home." Bucky waved bye to the fish and they headed to the gift shop. So many options, but only one thing caught his attention. A whale shark plushie.

"Want." He pointed to the whale. Steve let him have it and got a few toys that could go in the bath. And a few shirts. Bucky was once again hesitant about giving the checkout man his plushie, but the man was kind enough to just enter the price.

"Thank you so much, Elizabeth. This was really fun."

"You're welcome, this was fun. I had a really good time. Have a good day and happy holidays, Bucky, Steve and Harley." Said Elizabeth leaving. They left the aquarium and sat in the car. 

"Did you have fun, Bucky?" Bucky nodded and yawned.

"Fun."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. I like daddy and Bucky day."

"Again?"

"We can do daddy and Bucky again but first you need to eat dinner and get ready for bed." Steve started the car and they left the aquarium. 

Once they got home, Steve didn't know any difference in the apartment expect a faint smell of paint but that was fine. Steve and Bucky walked Harley around for her to use the bathroom. Steve warmed up the Thanksgiving leftovers and they ate. 

While Steve cleaned up, Bucky started to fall asleep at the table.

"Stay awake, sweetheart." Bucky groaned and looked at Steve.

"Sleepy."

"I know, but you need a bath before you can sleep." Bucky sighed and tried to stay awake. Steve finished cleaning up and brought a very tired Bucky to the bathroom. Once he was bathed and changed, he immediately went in the bed. Steve cleaned himself up and got in bed. Bucky got in his spot and fell asleep. Steve sent the pictures of Bucky to Nat and Rumlow. He took one more and captioned it "best day ever".

Nat responded with hearts and Rumlow responded "I wanted to go, too. Glad that he had fun." 

Steve smiled, it had been a fun day. He had learned so much about the ocean. Bucky probably didn't learn much, but it was worth seeing him smile and being in awe at all the animals. Maybe they could do something fun another day, probably with the whole avengers. Knowing Tony, his first instinct is to go to Disney World or a water park. But they had to factor in that Bucky gets overwhelmed in a crowd of people. Dr. Nicole offered a few solutions to help him, but nothing really seemed to work unless they just stopped or he took a break. They didn't know what to do with his social skills, but he had to work on them.

Steve sighed and closed his eyes. If Bucky was truly a child and by him, he would've spoiled him to death. Steve would have gave up the mantle to someone and just wanted to raise his boy. But he couldn't deny that he always felt that since he got Bucky like this, he had a parental instinct. He loved toddler Bucky, just like he was his very own. Maybe he could claim Bucky as his son. Or was that too weird to claim your disabled best friend's toddler mindset as your kid? Steve would have to sleep on that.

**Author's Note:**

> I have also thought of a story where Bucky and Steve have never met. Bucky is a toddler, a little older than this one, and lives in an abusive home. And Steve finds him. I'm still debating about writing it, but if anyone wants me to write, I'll give it a shot. 
> 
> Happy holidays, lovelies💙


End file.
